Dressage

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The Equestrian Aid Foundation will have its first Sidelines Annual Equestrian Tetrathlon Feb. 5 at the Jim Brandon Equestrian Center, 7500 Forest Hill Blvd., in Okeeheelee Park South. The event will feature the best of local restaurants and cocktails as well as guest chefs preparing food. Also planned are live and silent auctions and entertainment. Bruce Duchossois and Scot Evans are co-chairmen of the event to help raise awareness in the equestrian community and raise funds to assist those in need.

local equestrians go to Special olympics The Horses and the Handicapped South Florida team from Tradewinds Park took care of business during the Special Olympics State Games in Tampa recently. Under head coach Alison Plaza, Christina Keltz-Jones, Christa Osmond, Hannah Woods, Anthony McLelland and Andrew Overson led the way. Keltz-Jones, 12, of Coconut Creek, was spectacular in the English Equitation, where she captured the silver medal. Woods, 12, of Boca Raton , also received the silver medal in the English Equitation, as did Overson, 12, of Coral Springs.

Equestrian Sport Productions brought out the champagne and bulldozer as it broke ground on the new Global Dressage Festival last week. The new dressage festival grounds, which are located at the former Palm Beach Polo stadium property on the corner of South Shore Boulevard and Pierson Road, is slated to open for competition in December. "This is a dream come true for the spirit of dressage," said Robert Dover, Global Dressage Festival Executive Board member and Olympic dressage rider.

Managing partner of Wellington Equestrian Partners Mark Bellissimo shared future plans for the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center, the former Palm Beach Polo stadium and surrounding areas during WEP's master plan meeting on March 10. Bellissimo began the meeting discussing how far along the current show grounds at PBIEC had come in just a couple years. But he said the grounds will always be a work in progress. Next year the PBIEC plans to improve stabling options, increase parking, enhance horse work areas, hospitality and family options.

The 2011 World Dressage Masters will return to the western communities with a new sponsor in the International Polo Club Palm Beach and a new home at the Jim Brandon Equestrian Center at Okeeheelee Park but with the same high-level international dressage competition as in the past. When the original sponsor, Equestrian Sport Productions, decided not to host the World Dressage Masters at the Winter Equestrian Festival it seemed the event would be canceled for this year. But then International Polo Club Palm Beach owner John Goodman and his family stepped in to save the event and keep it in Palm Beach County , said producer John Flanagan, a managing partner with Wellington Classic Dressage.

Wellington is a haven for horse enthusiasts, jumpers, dressage riders and polo players from all over the world. Cool evenings and temperate sunny days, fields of play and equestrian events make western Palm Beach County the winter horse playground of America. And beginning today, a rare and important breed of horses will be available for inspection, then on Friday and Saturday, the Lusitano Collection will be revealed as part of an annual ritual that started in Wellington in 2008.

Crowd pleaser Steffan Peters and wonder horse Ravel provided one of the highlights for the United States so far in the first week of the World Equestrian Games at Lexington, Ky. Peters and Ravel, who gave memorable dressage performances to pop music earlier this year in the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington , placed third in the individual competition at the WEG with a quality score of 78.596. It was not enough to boost the U.S. into the dressage team medals, as Netherlands took the gold, followed by Great Britain and Germany with the Americans fourth.

Deerfield Beach's Christa Osmond is making the most of her opportunities on horseback. The 15-year-old took her blue-ribbon performance at the Equestrian Special Olympics area games in Fort Pierce earlier this year and built upon it at the Florida Equestrian Special Olympics Sports Championships May 21-22 in Tampa. Representing Broward County and Horses and the Handicapped of South Florida, Osmond won a gold medal in the independent English equitation class and a bronze medal in the dressage category.